Frog, owl boost Drake road project cost $25,000

SPENDING ON A $6 million project to improve Sir Francis Drake Boulevard through Samuel P. Taylor State Park continues to leapfrog amid a web of wildlife restrictions.

The spotted owl and red-legged frog were cited as a primary reason a $2 million contract with BKF Engineers Inc. of Redwood City must increase $25,000 in light of rehabilitation work.

The complicated project involves resurfacing 5.5 miles of roadway, repair of an unstable slope, replacing drainage culverts and installing rip rap to control erosion, and closing 23 existing roadside pullout areas while improving five pullouts with paved areas.

The project will maintain the same road width while improving vehicle turnouts without cutting a single redwood tree. An initial plan that called for chopping 17 redwoods to maximize safety was dumped amid public furor.

The engineering contract, initially set at $1.6 million, must be boosted again primarily due to "extended construction periods" and related conditions imposed by regulatory agencies concerned about endangered wildlife.

The project is limited to "environmental windows that dictate when work can take place ... due to regulatory agency restrictions to protect certain endangered species including the Northern Spotted Owl and red-legged frog," county principal engineer Ernest Klock advised in a report. "Spotted owl restrictions are imposed only before Aug. 1 due to growth patterns of the fledgling owls. Biologists were required to survey the construction zone daily."

In a bow to critters on the land, in the creek and in the air, "work in this corridor is generally permitted between Aug. 1 and Nov. 30," Klock noted. A landslide triggered by December rains further complicated matters, he added.

Repair of another landslide, and rehabilitation of 1.2 miles of roadway, already has been completed. A second phase of the project is scheduled to begin next Aug. 1. It involves an area stretching from Shafter Bridge to Platform Bridge Road and includes resurfacing the road, repair or replacement of 72 drainage culverts, and related work.

The move follows a fifth "addendum" to a related contract for John Roberto Associates, providing the firm with another $25,000 to bring its total cost to date to $265,000. That contract extends work to February 2014. The firm, initially hired for about $110,000 to coordinate various agency meetings on the road project and provide data to respond to public commentary, is monitoring compliance with agency permits and related regulations.